menosay
Quietly laughing at nothing in particular.
You may need to re-chigger your map a bit, pretty much all of the colored bits look like circles to me.
All Wo-rk and No Play: An Abyssal's Trials in the Job Market (KC)
- Thread starter PyrrhicSteel
- Start date
PyrrhicSteel
Look natural.
- Location
- Idaho
You might have to open the image in a new tab so you can zoom in. I originally wanted to split the map into regions so people could get a closer look at it, but I couldn't quite figure out where to split the map up without making it a bunch of long rectangles or slicing any location in two.
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/Him
A handful of typos that popped out.
Interesting reading and I'll have to go over it again. Personally I sort of find it hard to keep all the information in mind so it'll take a few rereads to really grok it, but the world building is pretty fascinating so thank you for sharing!
I think "while"
whether
China
compliments
I assume this will come out when Trin is testifying before the Senate Armed Forces Committee hah.
Interesting reading and I'll have to go over it again. Personally I sort of find it hard to keep all the information in mind so it'll take a few rereads to really grok it, but the world building is pretty fascinating so thank you for sharing!
- Location
- America
everyone knows she's in the middle of bumfuck nowhere in Vietnam doing.....things involving copious amounts of duct tape, welding torches, and Abyssal parts!
Y'know, I get the feeling that if you were to say, throw anyone from the Kurita fleet at her, that whole "tough girl" shtick would probably fall apart, and, well.....this is Gambier Bay we are talking about here, I don't think I need to say anything in regards to her behavior in general.
I mean, unless this is an innuendo thing...
Well she is unidentified...
Did Jelly know about these two?
Nooo! Someone get ice-cream and hugs to that base immediately!
Huh? I thought that proofreading is what a readership was for...
- Location
- USA
No mention of bases on the US East Coast? I would think that there would be facilities in the Gulf Coast and Florida to counter Abyssal forces in the Carribean. Maybe even a revitalized shipbuilding yard in Charleston.
A wonderfully put together informational, it definitely gives a bit more life to the world and allows for me to be immersed with much more ease due to the fact that even as Trinitite continues onward on her quest to find Saratoga, the world is still active with conflicts brewing across all seven seas with nations desperately fighting back to for a chance to live another day. It definitely does remove a bit of the rosy tint that some might have had on since we've been focused on Trinitite for most of the story while in the background the situation is much grimmer than one would expect, like that is a lot of princesses and installations which in turn means a load of areas under Abyssal control.
Just to allay any false hopes, I do not see this being in any way relevant to my own person, but...
@PyrrhicSteel. Do you have a policy on others using the contents of this latest informational to further their own works?
@PyrrhicSteel. Do you have a policy on others using the contents of this latest informational to further their own works?
PyrrhicSteel
Look natural.
- Location
- Idaho
Thank you! I can't address these immediately, but I'll definitely have to go back and fix those, as well as read through all of this again to catch some errors.
Thank you! This was a project I've been working off-and-on on for quite a while now, and it was definitely enough work that I wouldn't recommend other KC fic authors do the same.
Ah, yes... That wasn't an intentional reference, but it's unavoidable at this point since I didn't assign a definite identity to her.
If she did, she probably wouldn't recognize them, since they're Essex-class carriers who were never completed. She might try to exercise some authority over them to keep them from getting nuked, but they certainly wouldn't have accepted it.
This was one of the advantages of doing that project. Writing that out gave me a fun little far future plot bunny...
I kind of covered everything happening in the Eastern US with the Norfolk Point of Interest. They're almost recovered from the damage caused by the tsunami, and reactivating old shipyards and naval bases all over the place.
Trinitite's in a pretty good place, but part of the reason she's almost exclusively working with refugees is to help show that the war's been very brutal to a good portion of the world's population.
Oh, of course! I have a snowball's chance in hell of properly exploring the vast majority of this stuff, so if an author wanted to borrow ideas, they're completely free to.
I was contemplating crossposting this to SB's General KC Ideas and Recs thread to inspire other authors, but I'm afraid it might come off as me just trying to advertise my own fic. That applies doubly so to the general KC thread on this fourm, which I haven't been able to keep up with or contribute to, unfortunately.
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- Location
- scrabbling
Quite a lot of stuff there, and probably honestly a good piece of a listing of 'things to research' for someone who isn't all that knowledgeable about naval history but has had their interest piqued by Kancolle fics (aka me). It's very intimidating, the amount of knowledge that most authors bring to their fics.
subsider34
Forum Lurker Extraordinaire
- Location
- Houston, TX
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Fantastic setting building, though I spent way too much time trying cross reference the list to markers on the map. I really wish you'd given them some semblance of order on the map. I had go keep jumping back and forth between hemispheres and poles. As far as I can tell, you ordered points on the map by when you thought of an idea for a princess or installation instead of where they were on the map.
I strongly recommend the latter so one can linearly traverse the map just like you can read the legend in sequential order. Finding a point on the map would be much faster if I could get a general idea of where it is and then narrow down from there as opposed to having to search the entire map every single time.
I strongly recommend the latter so one can linearly traverse the map just like you can read the legend in sequential order. Finding a point on the map would be much faster if I could get a general idea of where it is and then narrow down from there as opposed to having to search the entire map every single time.
Annoyed Catholic - Wo Wo Wo: Strange Shipgirls in a Strange Land-the End of the Beginning
Annoyed Catholic
Moody fellow
Wo Wo Wo: Strange Shipgirls in a Strange Land-the End of the Beginning
Chapter 7: The End of the Beginning
With USS Arizona . . .
"How about parley?" Georgia countered, calming down. "That and maybe we can speak with Either Admiral Saratoga or Admiral Zuikaku."
"I know of shipgirls by that name . . .but last I hear they were hardly admirals," Arizona allowed, still holding the Abyssal Princess under the cover of her guns (despite knowing the submarine is way too close to avoid incurring damage to herself AND the submarine). Let us not mention the humans still present on the platform behind her.
"Whatever!" muttered the submarine princess, not wanting to argue about such things. She knew what she knew and d*mn did NOT want to argue over stupid things like the actual RANK of the people who rescued her and her sisters. "I guess there was some kind of . . .i don't know? A field promotion?!! Look, I do NOT want to go around killing anyone here but I DO want to get in contact with those two aircraft carrier shipgirls so I can get back with my sisters. From there, I'd kinda like to get some kind of life that doesn't involve going 'kill all humans' and shit like that. All I am asking for is to talk with them? By radio or telephone if you gotta?"
"Is that too much to ask?' the submarine (an Ohio-class, a post-War submarine Arizona noted with some trepidation) asked plaintively.
"I can . . .get with my superiors to see what we can arrange," Arizona allowed, which was good enough for the submarine.
And while Arizona--who's identity the female reporter provided--contacted her superiors with her cellphone, Georgia gives an impromptu interview while the now thoroughly confused tourist watch on ("Aren't Abyssals supposed to be hostile?" they ask themselves).
And while not as humorous as she could have been (what with her still in some pain from having fired her torpedo on land . . . remember the "physics problem" combat could be for shipgirls for USS Trinitite's world), it still is a very interesting interview! "Interesting" in the vein of being completely confusing to the reporter and the tourists.
Frankly, with dates and events mentioned happening that have not happened (yet) everyone seems to think the submarine is insane. But that insanity? Well, it seems to be playing in humanity's favor since the poor dear is NOT attacking everyone as a proper Abyssal should. But insanity or not, some people who learn that Georgia says that she's an Ohio-class submarine (aka a boomer) to be an alarming idea. Is this insane submarine princess a sign that Abyssals gaining nuclear bombs? Some who see the interview groan, knowing that the submarine's been spreading information which those in the Navy would rather not get out yet (the idea of another parallel world is out there and such).
. . .
However! Some out there in power saw this as an opportunity to . . .capitalise on a growing problem another submarine named Georgia had been causing them with her . . . antics. Oh, for the most part, the native Abyssal Submarine Princess.
Oh, those in the high towers of responsibility are . . . appreciative of the services that the submarine abyssal have done them and humanity as a whole. Truly, they are! But the headaches that she and the rest of the sub's family have been inadvertently causing them! The BS that had to be spread by that one youtube video alone where the native USS Georgia was drunkenly singing in that bar about one-eyed hookers and big squid monsters; it had been one thing after another for the intel community to cover up! Even IF the antics were of a (mostly) positive nature, people were talking. Rumors were going around and theories were being made; not yet by the mainstream but it was only a matter of time!
Maybe it was time to kill two birds with one stone! And it wasn't like they could put the genie back into the bottle with this doppelganger USS Georgia's existence! Her image and very existence upon US soil had gone nationwide before anything could have been DONE about it! But the d*mnable thing was, it turned out that . . .despite initial panic the public seemed to be . . . warming towards the submarine princess since she'd basically screamed at USS Arizona for endangering the civilian tourist with her Rigging. The submarine had almost BEGGED for her armaments to be removed, not wanting such destructive munitions within her hull. Regular tomahawks were dangerous. Torpedoes were made to be deadly, but nuclear types were a whole different level and this Georgia wanted no part of it (and that played VERY much against all prior views humanity had of Abyssals). The fact that this Georgia had mentioned things like "torture" and "brainwashing" from the Abyss (an entity leader that no humans until now had any real clues about) before having escaped from prison (her and her sisters). . .
Well, it put a whole new twist on things which . . .could be useful. . . .
But yep, as what had been said? Georgia and her antics back at the Arizona Memorial? Enough to make the evening news in every city of the USA! And that is pretty much what brought the head site researcher running to tell where the other Georgia is, right before a phonecall looking for Admiral Saratoga. Of course, that call is being made over ultra-secure ones. Of course, the submarine princess is still being under heavy "escort" ever since surfacing back at Pearl. Of Course, this conversation was being monitored and recorded....
Of course, Georgia knew of all of that (and Saratoga did as well). Par for the course...
"Hi, Saratoga!" Georgia said over the phone. "I . . .think there is something wrong here. Everyone here in Pearl Harbor seems to think I'm insane, telling me that the year I said everything happened in is in the future."
"It is not . . . quite like that," the voice of one of her escorts coughed slightly in embarrassment, too low to be overheard except for Georgia. At first, she--USS Arizona--had thought as much. Now? Well, the Abyssal Princess HAD that head injury when they had first met.
That and as it turned out not all of what the sub had said had been totally out there. Hey, turned out that her chain of command had even said that USS Saratoga had been an admiral. Something about it had made the officer sound a bit put off about that but what that was about had to wait until maybe after this call.
Georgia smiled and mouthed thanks towards the battleship.
Meanwhile, both Firestorm looked at her fellow Essex-class sisters and just shook her head slightly over the "insane" part. Having the initial meeting with her back in the Marshal islands had been a touch jarring, but the odd behavior had ultimately been due to finding allies after a harrowing escape more or less. That Georgia had been a bit eccentric. But with having met the atomic submarine named Georgia of this parallel world? Yeah, the sisters could see how the mistake could happen!
Saratoga--Lexington aircraft carrier and admiral--smiled slightly. She well knew the old saw about the thin margin between genius and madness. Georgia (hers and the native one) were more the former than latter. But d*MN if the sub shipgirl could be a touch quirky at times.
"Saying that . . .what's going on?" the Submarine Princess asked. "I mean what I did back there seemed to transport me and everyone else all over the world, but don't tell me we did time travel!"
"Not . . .so much as what you did with your torpedo sending all of us to an earlier time as in 'time travel, Are you familiar with M-theory?" Saratoga began, fiddling with the controls on her end of the communication. "Rather it was more like you accidentally sent us 'sideways' in time, as one British science fiction TV show I've come to like put it. As into a parallel world who happens to have been in only into the second year of the Abyssal War, my dear."
The screen flickered, finally showing an image of a bandaged Georgia staring out at Saratoga and her guests. Georgia looked at . . .Georgia and Georgia's family (including Chitose).
"You've been . . .making friend?" USS Georgia--a friend of Admiral Saratoga--blinks, giving some of the more Frankenstein-ish shipgirls of her counterpart's Fleet an odd look before grimacing at the poor word choice. "I mean! Uh, I guess you've got a story to tell!"
"I could say the same thing of you sister?" the native USS Georgia smirks, giving her analog a once over and noting the damage still present. "Any particular reason they have not fixed you up yet before plunkin' ya down to meet us?!"
"Heh, I wanted each and every instance of 'instant sunrise' and 'Openhiemer's light' OUT of me before anything else thanks!," the twin Georgia snarked back. "That Abyss b*tch can go fuck herself and all that and I don't want ANY reminder of that wacko's plans for ME and my sisters back HOME in MY hull, thank YOU!"
The nuclear reactor inside her for power was okay but beyond that? No, no, and H*LL no! That was a sentiment that her "hosts" were in agreement about and were glad to oblige her requests for removing every last atomic device for . . .safekeeping.
The fact that this communication call had happened before she could get fixed up afterward had been an unfortunate and unexpected event.
"Okay . . .I can see that," the native submarine princess said to the visitor. "Still, you gotta admit you scared the Hell out of everyone rising up unannounced at Pearl."
"Like she was expecting to be at Pearl Harbor instead of back at the Bikini Atoll short stack?" Firestorm laughed, shaking her head. "Between getting blasted to another world and getting BLASTED through all the way outside after that torpedo stunt she pulled on the Abyss that had to have been the last thing she'd expected."
"That and having been OUT like a light for more than a bit from being a FLYING submarine," muttered the doppelganger Georgia, wishing that aspirin would actually DO something for her lingering headache.
"Wait . . .what do you mean you went flying from using your Rigging to fire torpedoes?" native Georgia blinked. "What has being on land have anything to do with it sending a shipgirl flying?"
"Unlike you folks we shipgirls back from where we're from cannot use our rigging without it becoming a physics problem," USS Trinitite explained, remembering all too well tales from others who'd conducted land battles. "Give us enough water under us? We are fine, but that said it is why we have our 'land loadout: Directed Energy weapons."
Basically, they were plasma ejectors which were powered by cabling plugging directly into their muon-fusion reactors. While not without some recoil and of MUCH shorter range than their naval guns, the ejectors would hit as hard if not harder than their "more traditional" artillery. That and easily usable in the occasional land confrontation between themselves and Abyssal remainders....
"But conversely we don't have Abyssals who give off fields that make targeting them beyond iron sites impossible," Hypocenter added. "That is, at least until recently due to Shortstack here!"
"Stop calling me Shortstack!" native Georgia muttered, having already gotten tired of the nickname Saratoga's Fleet kept insisting on using, much to Chitose's amusement."
So it goes, old and new friends discuss where to go from here at least until if/when a way back to the visitor's homeworld could be found.
Meanwhile, Back at the Bikini Atoll . . .
Two shipgirls help a somewhat dazed Installation (installation-girl?) out from the Summoning Pool they'd used to secure this side of the Rift from anyone who'd . . .object.
Abyssals had been known to be rather annoying neighbors, and after having gone through the trouble of quelling/purifying any and all Abyssals which got captured one had to take steps to avoid a repeat of the Abyssal War back home.
The fact that the Abyssals were a going concern (and a dire one) on this world from what satellite and radio communications they could intercept was a worrisome thing!
Heck, Lt. Pacific Lily had been in a hurry to get the Kanmusu Installation up to speed so the Abyssals didn't think to give her world a visit through the Rift (and start Abyssal War 2)! This special Summoning ritual had been a hard-won thing that had VERY useful in helping END the first one. That and finding ways to make sure the fairies of Kanmusu-ized shipgirls retain their knowledge after being re-summoned . . .
Anyway, after this and a few other things then she and her team would be able to start in the next phase: searching for and rescuing the Fleets of both Admiral Saratoga and Rear Admiral Zuikaku. Pacific Lily, despite being more inclined to Support and Admin, had jumped at the chance to find her now dear friend: Trinitite!
To think, at one time she'd considered that Essex-class shipgirl a monster that she'd begged the Navy to get off of her. While she'd finally been brought around to trusting the Navy again through Trinitite (irony there), she'd was glad that the B*TCH who'd been roped into helping with this Summoning was going to bugger off on patrol here soon and AWAY from her!
Lily had not forgotten or forgiven the part that Nashville had played in that action which had not only endangered Trinitite's efforts to find her lost mother but her human crew as well!
Yeah, the fishing boat still held a grudge from that day. Thanks for asking!
"Wha? . . .Who?" the Installation--a young woman of one of the former native inhabitants of this now radioactive place--blinked, looking at her hands like they were alien things and then at herself. "How?!"
"Yes, about that?" Pacific Lilly begins, smiling gently at the still confused Installation Girl. "How about I tell you all about that here real quick. But mind if you're up to the idea of laying down some pain of some Abyssal SOBs?"
The young Installation-girl blinked, suddenly having stars in her eyes over the very idea. On one hand, the Firebringers (which the Navy had been allied with) had been the SOBs who'd used nuclear devices on her landmass. On those poor steel hulls! But . . .then on the other hand while the Bikini Atoll Installation had a soft spot for the Jellyfish Princess (before being redeemed as Saratoga), she'd had rather low opinions of other Abyssal Princesses who'd barged in like they were owed a life!
"I don't know, CAN I?!" she asked excitedly, almost vibrating in excitement.
Nodding to herself at the signs of a proper and GOOD summoning (not rebellious and prone to going Abyssal but well adjusted like a proper Kanmusu), Pacific Lilly began her story. After this, there were millions of things still to do before meeting the native people of this Earth. Oh, others were right now setting up to make radio contact to let friendly forces know they were here and not invaders, but that was THEIR job.
This was hers and she was going to do right by Bikini if she had anything to say on the matter!
And alas, this is where we'll end on this tale. But don't fret. Just consider it the end of the beginning and not the beginning of the end...
Chapter 7: The End of the Beginning
With USS Arizona . . .
"How about parley?" Georgia countered, calming down. "That and maybe we can speak with Either Admiral Saratoga or Admiral Zuikaku."
"I know of shipgirls by that name . . .but last I hear they were hardly admirals," Arizona allowed, still holding the Abyssal Princess under the cover of her guns (despite knowing the submarine is way too close to avoid incurring damage to herself AND the submarine). Let us not mention the humans still present on the platform behind her.
"Whatever!" muttered the submarine princess, not wanting to argue about such things. She knew what she knew and d*mn did NOT want to argue over stupid things like the actual RANK of the people who rescued her and her sisters. "I guess there was some kind of . . .i don't know? A field promotion?!! Look, I do NOT want to go around killing anyone here but I DO want to get in contact with those two aircraft carrier shipgirls so I can get back with my sisters. From there, I'd kinda like to get some kind of life that doesn't involve going 'kill all humans' and shit like that. All I am asking for is to talk with them? By radio or telephone if you gotta?"
"Is that too much to ask?' the submarine (an Ohio-class, a post-War submarine Arizona noted with some trepidation) asked plaintively.
"I can . . .get with my superiors to see what we can arrange," Arizona allowed, which was good enough for the submarine.
And while Arizona--who's identity the female reporter provided--contacted her superiors with her cellphone, Georgia gives an impromptu interview while the now thoroughly confused tourist watch on ("Aren't Abyssals supposed to be hostile?" they ask themselves).
And while not as humorous as she could have been (what with her still in some pain from having fired her torpedo on land . . . remember the "physics problem" combat could be for shipgirls for USS Trinitite's world), it still is a very interesting interview! "Interesting" in the vein of being completely confusing to the reporter and the tourists.
Frankly, with dates and events mentioned happening that have not happened (yet) everyone seems to think the submarine is insane. But that insanity? Well, it seems to be playing in humanity's favor since the poor dear is NOT attacking everyone as a proper Abyssal should. But insanity or not, some people who learn that Georgia says that she's an Ohio-class submarine (aka a boomer) to be an alarming idea. Is this insane submarine princess a sign that Abyssals gaining nuclear bombs? Some who see the interview groan, knowing that the submarine's been spreading information which those in the Navy would rather not get out yet (the idea of another parallel world is out there and such).
. . .
However! Some out there in power saw this as an opportunity to . . .capitalise on a growing problem another submarine named Georgia had been causing them with her . . . antics. Oh, for the most part, the native Abyssal Submarine Princess.
Oh, those in the high towers of responsibility are . . . appreciative of the services that the submarine abyssal have done them and humanity as a whole. Truly, they are! But the headaches that she and the rest of the sub's family have been inadvertently causing them! The BS that had to be spread by that one youtube video alone where the native USS Georgia was drunkenly singing in that bar about one-eyed hookers and big squid monsters; it had been one thing after another for the intel community to cover up! Even IF the antics were of a (mostly) positive nature, people were talking. Rumors were going around and theories were being made; not yet by the mainstream but it was only a matter of time!
Maybe it was time to kill two birds with one stone! And it wasn't like they could put the genie back into the bottle with this doppelganger USS Georgia's existence! Her image and very existence upon US soil had gone nationwide before anything could have been DONE about it! But the d*mnable thing was, it turned out that . . .despite initial panic the public seemed to be . . . warming towards the submarine princess since she'd basically screamed at USS Arizona for endangering the civilian tourist with her Rigging. The submarine had almost BEGGED for her armaments to be removed, not wanting such destructive munitions within her hull. Regular tomahawks were dangerous. Torpedoes were made to be deadly, but nuclear types were a whole different level and this Georgia wanted no part of it (and that played VERY much against all prior views humanity had of Abyssals). The fact that this Georgia had mentioned things like "torture" and "brainwashing" from the Abyss (an entity leader that no humans until now had any real clues about) before having escaped from prison (her and her sisters). . .
Well, it put a whole new twist on things which . . .could be useful. . . .
But yep, as what had been said? Georgia and her antics back at the Arizona Memorial? Enough to make the evening news in every city of the USA! And that is pretty much what brought the head site researcher running to tell where the other Georgia is, right before a phonecall looking for Admiral Saratoga. Of course, that call is being made over ultra-secure ones. Of course, the submarine princess is still being under heavy "escort" ever since surfacing back at Pearl. Of Course, this conversation was being monitored and recorded....
Of course, Georgia knew of all of that (and Saratoga did as well). Par for the course...
"Hi, Saratoga!" Georgia said over the phone. "I . . .think there is something wrong here. Everyone here in Pearl Harbor seems to think I'm insane, telling me that the year I said everything happened in is in the future."
"It is not . . . quite like that," the voice of one of her escorts coughed slightly in embarrassment, too low to be overheard except for Georgia. At first, she--USS Arizona--had thought as much. Now? Well, the Abyssal Princess HAD that head injury when they had first met.
That and as it turned out not all of what the sub had said had been totally out there. Hey, turned out that her chain of command had even said that USS Saratoga had been an admiral. Something about it had made the officer sound a bit put off about that but what that was about had to wait until maybe after this call.
Georgia smiled and mouthed thanks towards the battleship.
Meanwhile, both Firestorm looked at her fellow Essex-class sisters and just shook her head slightly over the "insane" part. Having the initial meeting with her back in the Marshal islands had been a touch jarring, but the odd behavior had ultimately been due to finding allies after a harrowing escape more or less. That Georgia had been a bit eccentric. But with having met the atomic submarine named Georgia of this parallel world? Yeah, the sisters could see how the mistake could happen!
Saratoga--Lexington aircraft carrier and admiral--smiled slightly. She well knew the old saw about the thin margin between genius and madness. Georgia (hers and the native one) were more the former than latter. But d*MN if the sub shipgirl could be a touch quirky at times.
"Saying that . . .what's going on?" the Submarine Princess asked. "I mean what I did back there seemed to transport me and everyone else all over the world, but don't tell me we did time travel!"
"Not . . .so much as what you did with your torpedo sending all of us to an earlier time as in 'time travel, Are you familiar with M-theory?" Saratoga began, fiddling with the controls on her end of the communication. "Rather it was more like you accidentally sent us 'sideways' in time, as one British science fiction TV show I've come to like put it. As into a parallel world who happens to have been in only into the second year of the Abyssal War, my dear."
The screen flickered, finally showing an image of a bandaged Georgia staring out at Saratoga and her guests. Georgia looked at . . .Georgia and Georgia's family (including Chitose).
"You've been . . .making friend?" USS Georgia--a friend of Admiral Saratoga--blinks, giving some of the more Frankenstein-ish shipgirls of her counterpart's Fleet an odd look before grimacing at the poor word choice. "I mean! Uh, I guess you've got a story to tell!"
"I could say the same thing of you sister?" the native USS Georgia smirks, giving her analog a once over and noting the damage still present. "Any particular reason they have not fixed you up yet before plunkin' ya down to meet us?!"
"Heh, I wanted each and every instance of 'instant sunrise' and 'Openhiemer's light' OUT of me before anything else thanks!," the twin Georgia snarked back. "That Abyss b*tch can go fuck herself and all that and I don't want ANY reminder of that wacko's plans for ME and my sisters back HOME in MY hull, thank YOU!"
The nuclear reactor inside her for power was okay but beyond that? No, no, and H*LL no! That was a sentiment that her "hosts" were in agreement about and were glad to oblige her requests for removing every last atomic device for . . .safekeeping.
The fact that this communication call had happened before she could get fixed up afterward had been an unfortunate and unexpected event.
"Okay . . .I can see that," the native submarine princess said to the visitor. "Still, you gotta admit you scared the Hell out of everyone rising up unannounced at Pearl."
"Like she was expecting to be at Pearl Harbor instead of back at the Bikini Atoll short stack?" Firestorm laughed, shaking her head. "Between getting blasted to another world and getting BLASTED through all the way outside after that torpedo stunt she pulled on the Abyss that had to have been the last thing she'd expected."
"That and having been OUT like a light for more than a bit from being a FLYING submarine," muttered the doppelganger Georgia, wishing that aspirin would actually DO something for her lingering headache.
"Wait . . .what do you mean you went flying from using your Rigging to fire torpedoes?" native Georgia blinked. "What has being on land have anything to do with it sending a shipgirl flying?"
"Unlike you folks we shipgirls back from where we're from cannot use our rigging without it becoming a physics problem," USS Trinitite explained, remembering all too well tales from others who'd conducted land battles. "Give us enough water under us? We are fine, but that said it is why we have our 'land loadout: Directed Energy weapons."
Basically, they were plasma ejectors which were powered by cabling plugging directly into their muon-fusion reactors. While not without some recoil and of MUCH shorter range than their naval guns, the ejectors would hit as hard if not harder than their "more traditional" artillery. That and easily usable in the occasional land confrontation between themselves and Abyssal remainders....
"But conversely we don't have Abyssals who give off fields that make targeting them beyond iron sites impossible," Hypocenter added. "That is, at least until recently due to Shortstack here!"
"Stop calling me Shortstack!" native Georgia muttered, having already gotten tired of the nickname Saratoga's Fleet kept insisting on using, much to Chitose's amusement."
So it goes, old and new friends discuss where to go from here at least until if/when a way back to the visitor's homeworld could be found.
Meanwhile, Back at the Bikini Atoll . . .
Two shipgirls help a somewhat dazed Installation (installation-girl?) out from the Summoning Pool they'd used to secure this side of the Rift from anyone who'd . . .object.
Abyssals had been known to be rather annoying neighbors, and after having gone through the trouble of quelling/purifying any and all Abyssals which got captured one had to take steps to avoid a repeat of the Abyssal War back home.
The fact that the Abyssals were a going concern (and a dire one) on this world from what satellite and radio communications they could intercept was a worrisome thing!
Heck, Lt. Pacific Lily had been in a hurry to get the Kanmusu Installation up to speed so the Abyssals didn't think to give her world a visit through the Rift (and start Abyssal War 2)! This special Summoning ritual had been a hard-won thing that had VERY useful in helping END the first one. That and finding ways to make sure the fairies of Kanmusu-ized shipgirls retain their knowledge after being re-summoned . . .
Anyway, after this and a few other things then she and her team would be able to start in the next phase: searching for and rescuing the Fleets of both Admiral Saratoga and Rear Admiral Zuikaku. Pacific Lily, despite being more inclined to Support and Admin, had jumped at the chance to find her now dear friend: Trinitite!
To think, at one time she'd considered that Essex-class shipgirl a monster that she'd begged the Navy to get off of her. While she'd finally been brought around to trusting the Navy again through Trinitite (irony there), she'd was glad that the B*TCH who'd been roped into helping with this Summoning was going to bugger off on patrol here soon and AWAY from her!
Lily had not forgotten or forgiven the part that Nashville had played in that action which had not only endangered Trinitite's efforts to find her lost mother but her human crew as well!
Yeah, the fishing boat still held a grudge from that day. Thanks for asking!
"Wha? . . .Who?" the Installation--a young woman of one of the former native inhabitants of this now radioactive place--blinked, looking at her hands like they were alien things and then at herself. "How?!"
"Yes, about that?" Pacific Lilly begins, smiling gently at the still confused Installation Girl. "How about I tell you all about that here real quick. But mind if you're up to the idea of laying down some pain of some Abyssal SOBs?"
The young Installation-girl blinked, suddenly having stars in her eyes over the very idea. On one hand, the Firebringers (which the Navy had been allied with) had been the SOBs who'd used nuclear devices on her landmass. On those poor steel hulls! But . . .then on the other hand while the Bikini Atoll Installation had a soft spot for the Jellyfish Princess (before being redeemed as Saratoga), she'd had rather low opinions of other Abyssal Princesses who'd barged in like they were owed a life!
"I don't know, CAN I?!" she asked excitedly, almost vibrating in excitement.
Nodding to herself at the signs of a proper and GOOD summoning (not rebellious and prone to going Abyssal but well adjusted like a proper Kanmusu), Pacific Lilly began her story. After this, there were millions of things still to do before meeting the native people of this Earth. Oh, others were right now setting up to make radio contact to let friendly forces know they were here and not invaders, but that was THEIR job.
This was hers and she was going to do right by Bikini if she had anything to say on the matter!
And alas, this is where we'll end on this tale. But don't fret. Just consider it the end of the beginning and not the beginning of the end...
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Well, first is if humanity is required for whatever is keeping them alive. This is a potential issue because they don't seem to be staying alive due to any familiar biological process. Of course, there is no evident link there, and seemingly no data supporting a relationship between a lack of ambient life and the health of abyssals, so it seems like a marginal possibility.
Second is what they will eat. Trinitite seems to do almost tolerably on pretty domestic fare, so long as she is not engaged in combat or maintenance, so it probably only takes a little bit of agricultural knowhow to keep them alive. As for actually maintaining their condition? Well they seem to literally destroy matter, violating conservation of such, so the planet will eventually exhaust its supply of bauxite, unless more resources just bubbly up from an infinite well in the ocean's depths, which seems to be a credible extant theory to explain Supply Depot's logistical ability
In short, we know just enough to put all of our assumption into doubt without actually answering anything.
Second is what they will eat. Trinitite seems to do almost tolerably on pretty domestic fare, so long as she is not engaged in combat or maintenance, so it probably only takes a little bit of agricultural knowhow to keep them alive. As for actually maintaining their condition? Well they seem to literally destroy matter, violating conservation of such, so the planet will eventually exhaust its supply of bauxite, unless more resources just bubbly up from an infinite well in the ocean's depths, which seems to be a credible extant theory to explain Supply Depot's logistical ability
In short, we know just enough to put all of our assumption into doubt without actually answering anything.
Interlude: Assessment
PyrrhicSteel
Look natural.
- Location
- Idaho
The JS Genkai had yet to see combat in the abyssal war, which suited her crew just fine. The Hiuchi-class support ship was unarmed, after all, meaning she would have to rely entirely on the skills of her allies if shooting started. To an observer, those allies were a handful of shipgirl Kaibokan, Japan's loose equivalent of America's DE girls, and a pair of Matsu-class destroyers. The small fleet wasn't an unusual sight for the civilians, with Admiral Hirano constantly drilling her command to ensure battle readiness, but those departing knew they were actually the most substantial force to leave Maizuru in months.
USS Saratoga sighed, the binoculars hiding her face as she watched the occasional civilian gawking at their exit. If they were closer, they'd probably notice that her hair didn't fit regulations for a human in the US Navy, but with it tucked into her NWUs she currently passed as a mere foreign observer: Not a common sight, but not particularly unexpected either.
She shifted in her boots, the stiff fabric scraping against her skin as she looked away from the port's distant activity. The loose, ridged uniform was something she could probably get used to, but for most purposes she'd prefer her regular clothing. Shipgirls had an exemption to most nation's uniform regulations, especially at sea like she was, but since the carrier technically didn't exist yet she was stuck in these until they'd gotten away from the eyes of the uninformed.
Then, the real work could begin.
"How long has it been, since everyone's been on the ocean?" Saratoga asked, lowering the binoculars so she could catch the subject of her question in her peripheral.
There was a pause, as the training cruiser at her side considered the question.
"Not for half a year." Katori reported. "We don't need to schedule an escort when training at Lake Biwa, after all."
"Training in a lake..." Saratoga wondered, although it was at the fact the idea hadn't occurred to her until she'd been told about it. They could hop in a car and drive anywhere in Japan, so why not train somewhere completely safe?
"Hmm." The Aircraft Carrier hummed, approving of the idea. "Is it a nice place?"
She'd seen the ancient lake through the eyes of her pilots, back in her previous life, but that was seventy years ago. It could be polluted by now, or almost dried up like some she'd heard about.
"It's alright." The Training Cruiser tempered. "Sea conditions are always great, which isn't what you want at this stage of training. We don't have any destroyer escort there either, so they don't get the valuable experience they need with screens and keeping formation."
"Sorry, I didn't mean for training." Saratoga frowned, reviewing her question. Had she gotten the Japanese wrong? "Is it…" She paused, trying to find a different word for 'nice' while looking over at Katori. "uh…"
Was that a smirk?
"It's wonderful." The training cruiser answered, her stoic demeanor fading as she gave Saratoga a knowing smile. "You've got a great view of the mountains in every direction, and while you're out there it feels like an exceptional anchorage."
"It's not claustrophobic?" Saratoga asked, imagining the situation. Even though she wouldn't technically be trapped in the lake, and places like Pearl Harbor were much smaller, she wasn't sure how she'd take the realization the lake didn't have any outlets.
"It's fine." Katori confirmed. "There's enough room to get to cruising speed, and we don't have to worry as much about rocky areas anymore."
"We don't?" Saratoga asked, suddenly confused.
"It's the second form we have." Katori clarified. "If you don't know they're there, they'll tear into your hull, but if you do know what's coming, your hull form will disappear, just like when you're sailing onto a beach to walk ashore."
"...I hadn't thought of that." Saratoga admitted, mulling over Katori's statement.
"You haven't had time to." Katori reassured the carrier. "Out here, it won't matter that much. You'll get more chances to experiment once you're declassified."
The aircraft carrier nodded. Part of her had been a shipgirl for years, she supposed, but the gloomy Jellyfish Princess hadn't tested her new form that much. The Abyssal only really cared that she was surrounded by a radioactive fog, that she had a fleet of ships to toy with, and her conviction that, some day, The Abyssal Fleets were going to be kindling for nuclear fire. The technical aspects had never been a priority.
"That's true..." Saratoga started, her lips thinning to the ghost of a frown. "...But how much do we need to unlearn now that we're human?"
"Unlearn?" Katori echoed.
"There's probably a lot of tactics we use because that was the only way to do it at the time. I imagine some of what I'll be teaching everyone will just be an… inefficient way of doing things."
"You're right." The Training Cruiser admitted. "Us veterans can be pretty blind to our human selves sometimes, but we're not asking you to magically know all of the differences. You know Graf Zeppelin?"
"The German carrier?" Saratoga asked. "She's back?"
Even before the Japanese cruiser could reply, however, another memory bubbled up from her time under the Abyss's influence. One of her now-sunk carriers, Hypocenter, had been going over her and her sister's last mission, describing an aircraft type she'd never seen before. From the description Jellyfish had immediately recognized the strange aircraft as Stukas, and had sat down most of the fleet for a technical lesson on the new enemy aircraft. After that, though, she'd put the incident aside, not paying the implications much mind. It's not like the Abyssal had cared much for individual nations, after all.
"She is. Works with the British Royal Navy, I think. Part of a joint task force with a couple of destroyers, an oiler, and a modern submarine. They do the raiding she was designed for, then once she's gotten in a good strike or two, all of the shipgirls pile into the submarine, and it slinks away from any counterattack abyssals throw together."
"Willingly sinking yourself?" Saratoga shuttered at the thought. Merely imagining being crammed into a tube smaller than her hull, hundreds of feet into the depths, sent a primal fear flying down her keel. "I don't think I could do that."
"I don't know how they can," Katori agreed, "but what's important is this: She still needed training from the British in how to prepare a strike, manage a CAP, and generally handle her air wing. What's the american phrase? Bread and butter stuff?"
"Fair enough." Saratoga conceded. "I guess approaching things from a pure ship standpoint is good enough as a start."
"That's all we expect." The Japanese cruiser agreed.
The American hummed in agreement, but didn't speak up beyond that. The hum of the Genkai's engine settled between the two as they watched the shoreline shrink, the port sliding below the horizon. It was about time for them to set sail themselves.
"In that case," Saratoga started, paying attention to how her uniform's fit changed as she stretched. "since we're sticking to the plan, I should get into my actual uniform."
"You just need to summon your rigging." the training cruiser informed her. "It'll show up."
"Onboard?" Saratoga asked, casting a worried glance down at the Genkai's deck.
"It's just some extra weight." Katori Teased. As she spoke, a thick mist rose from her back, dissipating to reveal the smokestack and guns of her rigging. "She can handle it."
To prove her point, the training cruiser hopped slightly, her rudder heels landing on the deck with a quiet click.
"Okay, what about this?" She asked, tugging at the collar of her NWU.
"Your crew can take care of it." Katori smirked, fog slowly engulfing her rigging as she stowed it again, turning to leave. "I'll let the students know it's time to hit the water."
Saratoga watched the training cruiser disappear belowdecks, leaning on the railing as she mulled over the new information. Experimentally, she held her left hand out
A familiar weight settled on her head, her port hand instinctively wrapping around the grip of her deck. Saratoga rose slightly as her boots faded away, and she could suddenly feel the wind on her legs through her tights. Awareness spread into her rigging, as much a part of her as her flesh and blood, to the point where she could feel the wind sweep across her deck and buffet against her island. This feeling… she was certain she hadn't experienced what it was like to summon her rigging before she'd been rescued from the Abyss.
Why was all of this new information in the first place? Had memories along those lines from the Jellyfish Princess just not emerged yet, or had she never bothered to stow her rigging?
The carrier shivered, remembering the oppressive fog. Knowing Jellyfish, there was a good chance it was the latter.
- - -
It had been far too long since Saratoga had been at sea. Sure, not that much time had actually passed since her short sea trials off of California, but after everything that had happened Saratoga welcomed the simplicity of a sea voyage.
Several great lakes bombers rumbled down her flight deck, the biplanes easily catching the wind and rising despite the 1000lb bomb slung under each of their bellies. They wouldn't be as effective against submarines as a depth charge, but none of her current aircraft had been developed to handle depth charges, so they were completely absent from her magazines.
The ships of their screen had a good service record, both learning from mistakes made in the second world war and hardened by experience in this conflict, but Saratoga knew no abyssal submarine would see eight aircraft carriers sailing in formation and not attempt a run on them. Her screen certainly wouldn't object to additional eyes searching for periscope wakes.
Besides, while Vestal hadn't done the best job explaining the system to her, Saratoga knew she needed to re-familiarize herself with these obsolete aircraft before she could look forward to using something more modern. Contributing to the defense of the convoy, or at the very least coordinating with the Japanese destroyers protecting her, should help get her air wing into the 1930s.
"Amagi, Katori: You're drifting to port, check your course."
Of course, there was still her real mission. Observers from Saratoga's Air Wing had been stationed on each of her students, quietly assessing the japanese carriers' work and taking notes for Saratoga to pour over later. Simple things like seakeeping were already being covered by Katori, leaving Saratoga with not that much to worry about until their first aircraft took off.
Speaking of which, now that her own aircraft were up, she could focus a bit more on her students. They all had been preparing an even mix of bombers and fighters to launch ever since her observers had boarded, but couldn't have begun until they were free from the Genkai. Now that her own aircraft were off her deck, it was time she got her first real look at her students.
Who should start, though? Amagi came to mind first, but that was probably because the triple-decked conversion had just been scolded by her fellow teacher. It wouldn't be good to single her out. Beyond that, it didn't really matter who launched their aircraft first, so Saratoga instead focused on the ship ahead of her.
"Katsuragi, Saratoga:" There wasn't any obvious change in the Unryu-class's hull form, but the distant shipgirl seemed to straighten when Saratoga mentioned her name. "Begin launching aircraft."
"Uh- Acknowledged!" The green-clad carrier stammered. "Standard Carrier Katsuragi, sortieing aircraft!"
The line had clearly been rehearsed, and didn't follow proper protocol at all, but Saratoga held her peace. Her students had studied training material from every side in the second world war, but remembering any of it while putting it into practice was an entirely different matter.
The sheer complexity of carrier operations made her wonder how Abyssal carriers without a teacher like Jellyfish were any threat at all. The early wargames the Crossroads fleet performed would have been an embarrassment if anyone else had witnessed them.
Saratoga stiffened, shaking her head to evade the memory that suddenly emerged from her subconscious. Murray might be interested in Trinitite's performance in wargames against her sisters, but that wasn't a part of her life Saratoga could dwell on right now.
Anyways, this first sortie was only for her to assess the skills they'd developed, either from experience or their attempts to train themselves after they'd been summoned. Therefore, instead of interrupting them to correct issues, she'd quietly take note of the mistakes they made and draw up a report of her first impressions. From those reports, Katori and her could determine the ideal training regimen for their fleet. She'd make mistakes, perhaps reading too far into stress-induced slipups, but misconceptions could be adjusted after a few more exercises.
One of Saratoga's observers on Katsuragi had started transmitting from the backpack radio he'd brought aboard. As one of her staff replied to the transmission, Saratoga concentrated, expanding her vision to the observer she'd placed there.
Katsuragi's flight deck wasn't as... full as she'd expected. Watching as the first aircraft, an A7M 'Sam' fighter if she guessed correctly, began to crawl forwards, she couldn't help but notice that only a handful of aircraft were actually spotted on the deck of the Unryuu-class. A few aircraft were still tucked behind her island, some folded up for storage as crews meticulously poured over a few they were still rearming.
A small frown played over Saratoga's features, but she didn't voice her disappointment. She hadn't expected the Japanese carrier to spot her aircraft for operations as quickly as she did, but the assumptions she'd made had set her expectations too high anyways. Despite being a veteran of world war 2, Katsuragi never had a chance to field aircraft before, only practicing with the other Unryuus after she was summoned, so it would make sense that she would have trouble putting everything into practice.
Well, it was better that she performed air operations slowly then recklessly. Both would be a deadly weakness in battle, but the former only needed practice to fix.
On the bright side, it hopefully meant she'd taken her research into damage control practices to heart. The observers in Katsuragi's armored hangar didn't have the clunky backpack radios the one she was currently watching through did, so Saratoga only had a view of topside operations, but judging by how cautiously the deck crew was acting she hoped that meant things would look… safe down there, at least.
Both through the eyes of her observer and from her position astern of her student, Saratoga watched as the first aircraft caught the wind, rising well before Katsuragi's deck ended and uneasily climbing to join Saratoga's museum pieces above the fleet. The aircraft was joined by another about forty-five seconds later, her pilots giving each other plenty of space before attempting to take off themselves, until another command crackled over the Fleet's net.
"All ships, Katori: Come starboard to 330."
After joining in the chorus of acknowledgements on the net, Saratoga quietly cursed herself. Had she spent too much time on her own air operations, giving her student not enough time to launch her aircraft before the fleet entered their scheduled zig? It would have been enough time for her sisters- or Trinitite, she thought darkly- to launch the aircraft they'd spotted on their deck, and the green Unryu-class didn't have that many to launch to begin with, but she was new at this! Saratoga should have ordered her to begin launching almost immediately after they'd turned into the wind, giving her a better view of her capabilities.
"Katsuragi, Saratoga:" The Lexington-class began, keeping the regret out of her voice. "Cancel operations for aircraft still on your deck."
She didn't want her student launching the rest of her strike into a crosswind, especially since the last aircraft on her deck were heavier Judy bombers.
"Cancel Air Operations." Even through the radio, the shame in the young carrier's voice was obvious. "Saratoga, Katsuragi, aye."
She clearly thought she'd embarrassed herself. If that didn't change once everyone else had a chance to screw up, she'd have to fix it in the debriefing.
"Katsuragi, Saratoga:" The converted battlecruiser spoke up again, her crews spotting more aircraft for ASW duty as she turned out of the wind. "You did fine." She reassured her student, although Saratoga doubted the young carrier would listen to her. "Take your aircraft north, have them drop their ordinance over open water, and direct them back to you for landing. I just want to focus on arming, takeoffs, and landings today."
That was going to be a fiasco. She'd specifically ordered that everyone only launch their aircraft with a minimum fuel load, but she guessed plenty of her students were going to be seeing Maizuru's repair baths after they returned. She knew how dangerous a poorly-trained carrier could be from experience.
Even from her fragmented view of life on the other side, Saratoga had more than one memory of Bearcats and Helldivers slamming into the stern of an awaiting Wo-class. For a few weeks they'd had to switch to landing their aircraft on the airstrip humans had built on Enyu, sheepishly walking ashore and scooping up their aircraft after training was completed.
Saratoga became suddenly aware of a small smile that had crept onto her lips. Surprised, the Carrier suddenly straightened, brushing an errant strand of hair away from her bridge as she forced a stoic expression. Had she been… nostalgic?
What the hell? The Jellyfish Princess certainly hadn't been endeared by her minion's incompetence! Where did that feeling come from?
She shook her head. No matter how she thought about it, what Saratoga was doing with Japan's rookie carriers felt… Familiar. The experience of not just teaching, but training shipgirls was unearthing far more memories than she was comfortable with.
Adjusting the way her deck sat on her shoulder, Saratoga sighed again, removing a magazine from under her dress and slotting it into her rigging as additional great lakes bombers were brought up from her hangar. Zuikaku had been very adamant that the Crane Princess and herself were different entities, but if Saratoga was asked if she could say the same thing about Jellyfish…
She wasn't sure she could honestly agree.
The magazine settled into her rigging with a click, the ker-clack of Saratoga instinctively racking the bolt snapping herself out of her thoughts. Damnit, she needed to stop thinking about this! Activating her radio again, the Carrier picked another one of her students at random.
"Hiyou, Saratoga:"
"Saratoga, Hiyou, aye." The Converted Ocean Liner responded. Unlike the awkward distance that dominated a lot of conversations between Saratoga and Japanese shipgirls, the light carrier had been oddly eager to meet her, even introducing herself in surprisingly good English.
"Once we turn into the wind, launch your strike, then report once your aircraft are in the air."
Was she trying to suck up to her new instructor, or had she done a better job putting the Pacific War behind her then most? Saratoga wasn't sure, but the question was more fun to ponder then dwelling on… back then.
USS Saratoga sighed, the binoculars hiding her face as she watched the occasional civilian gawking at their exit. If they were closer, they'd probably notice that her hair didn't fit regulations for a human in the US Navy, but with it tucked into her NWUs she currently passed as a mere foreign observer: Not a common sight, but not particularly unexpected either.
She shifted in her boots, the stiff fabric scraping against her skin as she looked away from the port's distant activity. The loose, ridged uniform was something she could probably get used to, but for most purposes she'd prefer her regular clothing. Shipgirls had an exemption to most nation's uniform regulations, especially at sea like she was, but since the carrier technically didn't exist yet she was stuck in these until they'd gotten away from the eyes of the uninformed.
Then, the real work could begin.
"How long has it been, since everyone's been on the ocean?" Saratoga asked, lowering the binoculars so she could catch the subject of her question in her peripheral.
There was a pause, as the training cruiser at her side considered the question.
"Not for half a year." Katori reported. "We don't need to schedule an escort when training at Lake Biwa, after all."
"Training in a lake..." Saratoga wondered, although it was at the fact the idea hadn't occurred to her until she'd been told about it. They could hop in a car and drive anywhere in Japan, so why not train somewhere completely safe?
"Hmm." The Aircraft Carrier hummed, approving of the idea. "Is it a nice place?"
She'd seen the ancient lake through the eyes of her pilots, back in her previous life, but that was seventy years ago. It could be polluted by now, or almost dried up like some she'd heard about.
"It's alright." The Training Cruiser tempered. "Sea conditions are always great, which isn't what you want at this stage of training. We don't have any destroyer escort there either, so they don't get the valuable experience they need with screens and keeping formation."
"Sorry, I didn't mean for training." Saratoga frowned, reviewing her question. Had she gotten the Japanese wrong? "Is it…" She paused, trying to find a different word for 'nice' while looking over at Katori. "uh…"
Was that a smirk?
"It's wonderful." The training cruiser answered, her stoic demeanor fading as she gave Saratoga a knowing smile. "You've got a great view of the mountains in every direction, and while you're out there it feels like an exceptional anchorage."
"It's not claustrophobic?" Saratoga asked, imagining the situation. Even though she wouldn't technically be trapped in the lake, and places like Pearl Harbor were much smaller, she wasn't sure how she'd take the realization the lake didn't have any outlets.
"It's fine." Katori confirmed. "There's enough room to get to cruising speed, and we don't have to worry as much about rocky areas anymore."
"We don't?" Saratoga asked, suddenly confused.
"It's the second form we have." Katori clarified. "If you don't know they're there, they'll tear into your hull, but if you do know what's coming, your hull form will disappear, just like when you're sailing onto a beach to walk ashore."
"...I hadn't thought of that." Saratoga admitted, mulling over Katori's statement.
"You haven't had time to." Katori reassured the carrier. "Out here, it won't matter that much. You'll get more chances to experiment once you're declassified."
The aircraft carrier nodded. Part of her had been a shipgirl for years, she supposed, but the gloomy Jellyfish Princess hadn't tested her new form that much. The Abyssal only really cared that she was surrounded by a radioactive fog, that she had a fleet of ships to toy with, and her conviction that, some day, The Abyssal Fleets were going to be kindling for nuclear fire. The technical aspects had never been a priority.
"That's true..." Saratoga started, her lips thinning to the ghost of a frown. "...But how much do we need to unlearn now that we're human?"
"Unlearn?" Katori echoed.
"There's probably a lot of tactics we use because that was the only way to do it at the time. I imagine some of what I'll be teaching everyone will just be an… inefficient way of doing things."
"You're right." The Training Cruiser admitted. "Us veterans can be pretty blind to our human selves sometimes, but we're not asking you to magically know all of the differences. You know Graf Zeppelin?"
"The German carrier?" Saratoga asked. "She's back?"
Even before the Japanese cruiser could reply, however, another memory bubbled up from her time under the Abyss's influence. One of her now-sunk carriers, Hypocenter, had been going over her and her sister's last mission, describing an aircraft type she'd never seen before. From the description Jellyfish had immediately recognized the strange aircraft as Stukas, and had sat down most of the fleet for a technical lesson on the new enemy aircraft. After that, though, she'd put the incident aside, not paying the implications much mind. It's not like the Abyssal had cared much for individual nations, after all.
"She is. Works with the British Royal Navy, I think. Part of a joint task force with a couple of destroyers, an oiler, and a modern submarine. They do the raiding she was designed for, then once she's gotten in a good strike or two, all of the shipgirls pile into the submarine, and it slinks away from any counterattack abyssals throw together."
"Willingly sinking yourself?" Saratoga shuttered at the thought. Merely imagining being crammed into a tube smaller than her hull, hundreds of feet into the depths, sent a primal fear flying down her keel. "I don't think I could do that."
"I don't know how they can," Katori agreed, "but what's important is this: She still needed training from the British in how to prepare a strike, manage a CAP, and generally handle her air wing. What's the american phrase? Bread and butter stuff?"
"Fair enough." Saratoga conceded. "I guess approaching things from a pure ship standpoint is good enough as a start."
"That's all we expect." The Japanese cruiser agreed.
The American hummed in agreement, but didn't speak up beyond that. The hum of the Genkai's engine settled between the two as they watched the shoreline shrink, the port sliding below the horizon. It was about time for them to set sail themselves.
"In that case," Saratoga started, paying attention to how her uniform's fit changed as she stretched. "since we're sticking to the plan, I should get into my actual uniform."
"You just need to summon your rigging." the training cruiser informed her. "It'll show up."
"Onboard?" Saratoga asked, casting a worried glance down at the Genkai's deck.
"It's just some extra weight." Katori Teased. As she spoke, a thick mist rose from her back, dissipating to reveal the smokestack and guns of her rigging. "She can handle it."
To prove her point, the training cruiser hopped slightly, her rudder heels landing on the deck with a quiet click.
"Okay, what about this?" She asked, tugging at the collar of her NWU.
"Your crew can take care of it." Katori smirked, fog slowly engulfing her rigging as she stowed it again, turning to leave. "I'll let the students know it's time to hit the water."
Saratoga watched the training cruiser disappear belowdecks, leaning on the railing as she mulled over the new information. Experimentally, she held her left hand out
A familiar weight settled on her head, her port hand instinctively wrapping around the grip of her deck. Saratoga rose slightly as her boots faded away, and she could suddenly feel the wind on her legs through her tights. Awareness spread into her rigging, as much a part of her as her flesh and blood, to the point where she could feel the wind sweep across her deck and buffet against her island. This feeling… she was certain she hadn't experienced what it was like to summon her rigging before she'd been rescued from the Abyss.
Why was all of this new information in the first place? Had memories along those lines from the Jellyfish Princess just not emerged yet, or had she never bothered to stow her rigging?
The carrier shivered, remembering the oppressive fog. Knowing Jellyfish, there was a good chance it was the latter.
- - -
It had been far too long since Saratoga had been at sea. Sure, not that much time had actually passed since her short sea trials off of California, but after everything that had happened Saratoga welcomed the simplicity of a sea voyage.
Several great lakes bombers rumbled down her flight deck, the biplanes easily catching the wind and rising despite the 1000lb bomb slung under each of their bellies. They wouldn't be as effective against submarines as a depth charge, but none of her current aircraft had been developed to handle depth charges, so they were completely absent from her magazines.
The ships of their screen had a good service record, both learning from mistakes made in the second world war and hardened by experience in this conflict, but Saratoga knew no abyssal submarine would see eight aircraft carriers sailing in formation and not attempt a run on them. Her screen certainly wouldn't object to additional eyes searching for periscope wakes.
Besides, while Vestal hadn't done the best job explaining the system to her, Saratoga knew she needed to re-familiarize herself with these obsolete aircraft before she could look forward to using something more modern. Contributing to the defense of the convoy, or at the very least coordinating with the Japanese destroyers protecting her, should help get her air wing into the 1930s.
"Amagi, Katori: You're drifting to port, check your course."
Of course, there was still her real mission. Observers from Saratoga's Air Wing had been stationed on each of her students, quietly assessing the japanese carriers' work and taking notes for Saratoga to pour over later. Simple things like seakeeping were already being covered by Katori, leaving Saratoga with not that much to worry about until their first aircraft took off.
Speaking of which, now that her own aircraft were up, she could focus a bit more on her students. They all had been preparing an even mix of bombers and fighters to launch ever since her observers had boarded, but couldn't have begun until they were free from the Genkai. Now that her own aircraft were off her deck, it was time she got her first real look at her students.
Who should start, though? Amagi came to mind first, but that was probably because the triple-decked conversion had just been scolded by her fellow teacher. It wouldn't be good to single her out. Beyond that, it didn't really matter who launched their aircraft first, so Saratoga instead focused on the ship ahead of her.
"Katsuragi, Saratoga:" There wasn't any obvious change in the Unryu-class's hull form, but the distant shipgirl seemed to straighten when Saratoga mentioned her name. "Begin launching aircraft."
"Uh- Acknowledged!" The green-clad carrier stammered. "Standard Carrier Katsuragi, sortieing aircraft!"
The line had clearly been rehearsed, and didn't follow proper protocol at all, but Saratoga held her peace. Her students had studied training material from every side in the second world war, but remembering any of it while putting it into practice was an entirely different matter.
The sheer complexity of carrier operations made her wonder how Abyssal carriers without a teacher like Jellyfish were any threat at all. The early wargames the Crossroads fleet performed would have been an embarrassment if anyone else had witnessed them.
Saratoga stiffened, shaking her head to evade the memory that suddenly emerged from her subconscious. Murray might be interested in Trinitite's performance in wargames against her sisters, but that wasn't a part of her life Saratoga could dwell on right now.
Anyways, this first sortie was only for her to assess the skills they'd developed, either from experience or their attempts to train themselves after they'd been summoned. Therefore, instead of interrupting them to correct issues, she'd quietly take note of the mistakes they made and draw up a report of her first impressions. From those reports, Katori and her could determine the ideal training regimen for their fleet. She'd make mistakes, perhaps reading too far into stress-induced slipups, but misconceptions could be adjusted after a few more exercises.
One of Saratoga's observers on Katsuragi had started transmitting from the backpack radio he'd brought aboard. As one of her staff replied to the transmission, Saratoga concentrated, expanding her vision to the observer she'd placed there.
Katsuragi's flight deck wasn't as... full as she'd expected. Watching as the first aircraft, an A7M 'Sam' fighter if she guessed correctly, began to crawl forwards, she couldn't help but notice that only a handful of aircraft were actually spotted on the deck of the Unryuu-class. A few aircraft were still tucked behind her island, some folded up for storage as crews meticulously poured over a few they were still rearming.
A small frown played over Saratoga's features, but she didn't voice her disappointment. She hadn't expected the Japanese carrier to spot her aircraft for operations as quickly as she did, but the assumptions she'd made had set her expectations too high anyways. Despite being a veteran of world war 2, Katsuragi never had a chance to field aircraft before, only practicing with the other Unryuus after she was summoned, so it would make sense that she would have trouble putting everything into practice.
Well, it was better that she performed air operations slowly then recklessly. Both would be a deadly weakness in battle, but the former only needed practice to fix.
On the bright side, it hopefully meant she'd taken her research into damage control practices to heart. The observers in Katsuragi's armored hangar didn't have the clunky backpack radios the one she was currently watching through did, so Saratoga only had a view of topside operations, but judging by how cautiously the deck crew was acting she hoped that meant things would look… safe down there, at least.
Both through the eyes of her observer and from her position astern of her student, Saratoga watched as the first aircraft caught the wind, rising well before Katsuragi's deck ended and uneasily climbing to join Saratoga's museum pieces above the fleet. The aircraft was joined by another about forty-five seconds later, her pilots giving each other plenty of space before attempting to take off themselves, until another command crackled over the Fleet's net.
"All ships, Katori: Come starboard to 330."
After joining in the chorus of acknowledgements on the net, Saratoga quietly cursed herself. Had she spent too much time on her own air operations, giving her student not enough time to launch her aircraft before the fleet entered their scheduled zig? It would have been enough time for her sisters- or Trinitite, she thought darkly- to launch the aircraft they'd spotted on their deck, and the green Unryu-class didn't have that many to launch to begin with, but she was new at this! Saratoga should have ordered her to begin launching almost immediately after they'd turned into the wind, giving her a better view of her capabilities.
"Katsuragi, Saratoga:" The Lexington-class began, keeping the regret out of her voice. "Cancel operations for aircraft still on your deck."
She didn't want her student launching the rest of her strike into a crosswind, especially since the last aircraft on her deck were heavier Judy bombers.
"Cancel Air Operations." Even through the radio, the shame in the young carrier's voice was obvious. "Saratoga, Katsuragi, aye."
She clearly thought she'd embarrassed herself. If that didn't change once everyone else had a chance to screw up, she'd have to fix it in the debriefing.
"Katsuragi, Saratoga:" The converted battlecruiser spoke up again, her crews spotting more aircraft for ASW duty as she turned out of the wind. "You did fine." She reassured her student, although Saratoga doubted the young carrier would listen to her. "Take your aircraft north, have them drop their ordinance over open water, and direct them back to you for landing. I just want to focus on arming, takeoffs, and landings today."
That was going to be a fiasco. She'd specifically ordered that everyone only launch their aircraft with a minimum fuel load, but she guessed plenty of her students were going to be seeing Maizuru's repair baths after they returned. She knew how dangerous a poorly-trained carrier could be from experience.
Even from her fragmented view of life on the other side, Saratoga had more than one memory of Bearcats and Helldivers slamming into the stern of an awaiting Wo-class. For a few weeks they'd had to switch to landing their aircraft on the airstrip humans had built on Enyu, sheepishly walking ashore and scooping up their aircraft after training was completed.
Saratoga became suddenly aware of a small smile that had crept onto her lips. Surprised, the Carrier suddenly straightened, brushing an errant strand of hair away from her bridge as she forced a stoic expression. Had she been… nostalgic?
What the hell? The Jellyfish Princess certainly hadn't been endeared by her minion's incompetence! Where did that feeling come from?
She shook her head. No matter how she thought about it, what Saratoga was doing with Japan's rookie carriers felt… Familiar. The experience of not just teaching, but training shipgirls was unearthing far more memories than she was comfortable with.
Adjusting the way her deck sat on her shoulder, Saratoga sighed again, removing a magazine from under her dress and slotting it into her rigging as additional great lakes bombers were brought up from her hangar. Zuikaku had been very adamant that the Crane Princess and herself were different entities, but if Saratoga was asked if she could say the same thing about Jellyfish…
She wasn't sure she could honestly agree.
The magazine settled into her rigging with a click, the ker-clack of Saratoga instinctively racking the bolt snapping herself out of her thoughts. Damnit, she needed to stop thinking about this! Activating her radio again, the Carrier picked another one of her students at random.
"Hiyou, Saratoga:"
"Saratoga, Hiyou, aye." The Converted Ocean Liner responded. Unlike the awkward distance that dominated a lot of conversations between Saratoga and Japanese shipgirls, the light carrier had been oddly eager to meet her, even introducing herself in surprisingly good English.
"Once we turn into the wind, launch your strike, then report once your aircraft are in the air."
Was she trying to suck up to her new instructor, or had she done a better job putting the Pacific War behind her then most? Saratoga wasn't sure, but the question was more fun to ponder then dwelling on… back then.
Thanks to Jessetheswift for betaing this interlude!
I had an internal debate while writing this chapter when relating to the shipgirls talking over radio. I did some research on protocol, found lists of callsigns for US Navy ships but not JMSDF ones, realized I would have to make new ones for returned shipgirls...
I probably could have powered through that, but at the end of the day, it's just sort of clunky to read, so I've ended up fudging the protocol to ignore the ship's four-letter callsign and just use their name. Maybe that's an acceptable break from reality, maybe it isn't, but it is sort of in line with what radio chatter we've seen earlier in the fic and it should be easier to read.
Still, if the protocol I used is painfully incorrect, feel free to correct me. I couldn't find any good sources on naval radio protocols compared to civilian maritime ones, but part of that failure was due to life circumstances preventing me from dedicating the time to really research this stuff.
Also, is Katsuragi in any other kancolle fics? Saratoga's team is mostly characters who exist in game, but are very rare in fics. Getting to explore those characters is a nice bonus of writing these interludes. Most of the groundwork of making an OC is done for you, but they aren't so flushed out you need to worry too much about being consistent with canon. It's nice.
Anyways, I explicitly avoided introducing everyone this snippet. It's not that I expect readers to forget all the names if I just threw a list at their face, but asking them to do so when that isn't plot relevant (for this arc) just feels kind of mean. Plus, it wouldn't be very interesting. I'll reserve those kinds of tactics for information posts.
...Uh, don't feel pressured to read those, either. You're not missing anything plot-important, and there are better ways to introduce vital exposition. They're more me sharing my notes.
I had an internal debate while writing this chapter when relating to the shipgirls talking over radio. I did some research on protocol, found lists of callsigns for US Navy ships but not JMSDF ones, realized I would have to make new ones for returned shipgirls...
I probably could have powered through that, but at the end of the day, it's just sort of clunky to read, so I've ended up fudging the protocol to ignore the ship's four-letter callsign and just use their name. Maybe that's an acceptable break from reality, maybe it isn't, but it is sort of in line with what radio chatter we've seen earlier in the fic and it should be easier to read.
Still, if the protocol I used is painfully incorrect, feel free to correct me. I couldn't find any good sources on naval radio protocols compared to civilian maritime ones, but part of that failure was due to life circumstances preventing me from dedicating the time to really research this stuff.
Also, is Katsuragi in any other kancolle fics? Saratoga's team is mostly characters who exist in game, but are very rare in fics. Getting to explore those characters is a nice bonus of writing these interludes. Most of the groundwork of making an OC is done for you, but they aren't so flushed out you need to worry too much about being consistent with canon. It's nice.
Anyways, I explicitly avoided introducing everyone this snippet. It's not that I expect readers to forget all the names if I just threw a list at their face, but asking them to do so when that isn't plot relevant (for this arc) just feels kind of mean. Plus, it wouldn't be very interesting. I'll reserve those kinds of tactics for information posts.
...Uh, don't feel pressured to read those, either. You're not missing anything plot-important, and there are better ways to introduce vital exposition. They're more me sharing my notes.
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- Location
- madison
interesting, we know she didn't have an emotional investment when she was jellyfish, but it almost feels like she's starting to get one. Maybe it has to do with looking at those memories with a less sociopathic mindset? so she's reacting to them as she would now. If that's true, then she's in for a bad time, she would start to care about her kids after they were almost all dead.
Either its different for saratoga or Zuikaku is lying, possibly to herself. Its not impossible the abyss has multiple methods of setting up abyssals. Though it could also be a case where its a matter of opinion, since the line between a different persons and the same person under heavy mental alteration is a matter of philosophy.
Memory Gem
Denizen of the Internet
- Pronouns
- Tree
Now that makes me think of a version of this where Sara is the MC and she does accept Trin, and they have a good time only for Trin to be sunk. I'm sorry, I'm having particularly dark thoughts today, and Sara becoming attached to Trin and losing her pops out.
I do wonder though, if Sara does become emotionally attached to her kids post-mortem, how would she feel about the shipgirls that sank them?
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- Location
- The Frozen North
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Good chapter, reminds me of the idea I've had kicking around in my head for a kancolle quest or fic that largely involves some carriers that were lost early or not completed getting trained. I like that your using the less often included girls.
I had been meaning to ask after reading that big background post if unfinished ships could be summoned directly or if they only showed up as princesses and have to rescued. But BC conversion Amagi in Sara's training fleet and Graf Zeppelin being brought up while not being listed as restored princesses answers that question. That will certainly help a few countries out.
Speaking of the background post I had meant to comment on it before but never did so I will now.
Otherwise I think it's very well done, it's very nice of you to put so much work in and allow others to make use of it. I may make use of it as a base for worldbuilding if I ever get around to writing that fic I mentioned or a couple others I've had kicking around in my head the last couple years.
I took note of who's missing what due to the princesses upon rereading. European navies made off fairly well, though Britain's a missing good chunk of it's carriers, and France a good amount of their limited modern battleships. The USN is missing the second most, though most of them are unfinished ships, and then Japan's probably the worst off, with probably a quarter of it's battleships and carriers currently evil.
I have a couple remaining questions involving the background post:
Are installations also corrupted kanmusu or are they completely separate?
Is the specifics of the La Palma disaster mentioned somewhere? If I remember correctly it involved a landslide but I'm not sure where it occurred or how it would cause a massive tsunami along the US's west coast.
Who is this? A mis-spelling of Hiyou? I haven't heard of this ship otherwise, I assume it's one of Japan's liner to CVE conversions.
She's isn't in any that I've read, or if she is she made just a cameo and I've forgotten. Trin's gonna have it rough whenever she gets to meet up with Sara, competing with at least two of Sara's new kohai's for affection. (Those being Taihou, and presumably Katsuragi [since she's shown to get attached to senpais', such as Zuikaku], and maybe Haiou.)
I had been meaning to ask after reading that big background post if unfinished ships could be summoned directly or if they only showed up as princesses and have to rescued. But BC conversion Amagi in Sara's training fleet and Graf Zeppelin being brought up while not being listed as restored princesses answers that question. That will certainly help a few countries out.
Speaking of the background post I had meant to comment on it before but never did so I will now.
I remember their being a few typos when I read through it the first time but rereading it I only caught this one. Bismarck is missing the "c".
Otherwise I think it's very well done, it's very nice of you to put so much work in and allow others to make use of it. I may make use of it as a base for worldbuilding if I ever get around to writing that fic I mentioned or a couple others I've had kicking around in my head the last couple years.
I took note of who's missing what due to the princesses upon rereading. European navies made off fairly well, though Britain's a missing good chunk of it's carriers, and France a good amount of their limited modern battleships. The USN is missing the second most, though most of them are unfinished ships, and then Japan's probably the worst off, with probably a quarter of it's battleships and carriers currently evil.
I have a couple remaining questions involving the background post:
Are installations also corrupted kanmusu or are they completely separate?
Is the specifics of the La Palma disaster mentioned somewhere? If I remember correctly it involved a landslide but I'm not sure where it occurred or how it would cause a massive tsunami along the US's west coast.
Strayed
No Gravy Beam for you.
You mean meticulously. Maliciously means that her crews are acting with harmful intent, which makes no sense in this context.
SilverShadows
Under autumn skies
- Location
- US
Maliciously can work if the crews checking over the rearming planes are specifically looking for something wrong to call out some other part of the crew on like the ones below decks or something. Presumably as some sort attempt to shame them into doing better.
But meticulously does work better in general.
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/Him
An interesting look into Saratoga. I think she has an easier time integrating Jellyfish's memories because she never really did much that would cause her current self that much emotional pain. My understanding is she never even left Bikini, and only sent out her minions to earn supplies. There would be the awareness that her fleet killed people on her orders but it would be enough removed I doubt it would impact her much.
I'm guessing the Crane Princess was much more active which would lead Zuikaku to be emphatic that she is a separate person to avoid the guilt. Or it could be different because of Ebil Sparkly Shipgirl Magic, who knows?
I'm guessing the Crane Princess was much more active which would lead Zuikaku to be emphatic that she is a separate person to avoid the guilt. Or it could be different because of Ebil Sparkly Shipgirl Magic, who knows?
PyrrhicSteel
Look natural.
- Location
- Idaho
Although in this case, one's answer to this deep philosophical question determines if The Hauge needs to get involved.
They'd have good reason to rule Zuikaku innocent or guilty w/ jury nullification, but the media hoopla would cause plenty of damage.
Actually, makes me wonder: In US Court, if a hypothetical defendant had mitigating circumstances whose details were classified, could those details be presented to the court and be redacted from the public record?
Oh, she'd totally blame herself/Jellyfish.
Something along the lines of "They were so young! If only I raised them better!"
Yeah, that was a pretty bad typo. I'll fix it ASAP.
Same here, thanks for pointing these out. I probably corrected a lot of the other typos since your first reading, if you're wondering. There were a lot of little mistakes in that info post.
Of course, go ahead! Like I've said, a lot of those ideas are ones that I won't have the opportunity to explore properly, so trying to horde them would be pretty selfish of me. This is doubly true since I bet the execution of the idea would be unique to what I would try if I used it.
Installations are a completely separate kind of entity. Since the land they represent still exists, they've basically 'infected' it, generating AFVs and aircraft while their faries work to transform them into fortresses. The only way to really kill one would be nuking it enough that the island they used to be no longer exists, or other extreme measures.
It's off-handedly mentioned by Dan when he's introduced, and flushed out in more detail by the President in an interlude, but I'll resummarize:
In the mid-noughties a study was published that caused quite a bit of hysteria: Surveys of the island of La Palma
found that a good portion of it was unstable, and geologic activity could cause about a third of the island to give way and slam into the ocean, suddenly displacing an insane amount of water. The resulting tsunami would be, uh, bad:
I don't trust the source for this pic, but I'm talking about people's fears of what would happen, and the study its based on was freely available. Anyways, follow-up surveys showed that La Palma has frequent (in geological terms) smaller landslides, and it's stable enough that only small portions of it give away at a time. There isn't any real threat to coastal cities on the Atlantic.
Unless, of course, a certain French Battleship Princess had set the nearby islands as her home, realized what La Palma could do, and set about emptying the magazines of her fleet to try and induce said megatsunami. Abyssals aren't combat engineers, geologists, or explosives experts, so the results weren't nearly as bad as the studies feared, but the landslide did do significant damage to infrastructure along the western Atlantic, not to mention the casualties.
Unfortunately for the French Battleship Princess, she hadn't really given abyssals in that area proper warning besides "be ready to attack the US at this time," so they're just as angry about loosing their bases of operations as the humans are. Any cooperation between abyssals in the Atlantic died in the La Palma campaign.
Yup. Thanks for pointing that out!
Yeah. She did many things, trying to depopulate Okinawa being the most ambitious.
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Roadie
A plate full of blins and a cat nearby.
If I'm remembering right: when classified stuff comes up, it's generally with a judge trial rather than jury trial, and it's presented in a closed session with the judge rather than in open court.
Annoyed Catholic
Moody fellow
And now for some pictures!
One is from the omakes: Wo Wo Wo: Strange Shipgirls in a Strange Land. and Wo Wo Wo: Strange Shipgirls in a Strange Land-Young and Elder
Artist: derryfebrian
The other is from the omake: You Can't Go Home Again (Part 2)...
Note: art by Phi_md
Before, you'd have to trawl through all of my other omakes to find it. Now? Now not so much.
OH! and if you're interested these artists are for hire over at Fiverr.com. I'd link to their business websites there myself but some stuff there is NSFW. So, not linking to avoid a banning, thank you.
One is from the omakes: Wo Wo Wo: Strange Shipgirls in a Strange Land. and Wo Wo Wo: Strange Shipgirls in a Strange Land-Young and Elder
Artist: derryfebrian
The other is from the omake: You Can't Go Home Again (Part 2)...
Note: art by Phi_md
Before, you'd have to trawl through all of my other omakes to find it. Now? Now not so much.
OH! and if you're interested these artists are for hire over at Fiverr.com. I'd link to their business websites there myself but some stuff there is NSFW. So, not linking to avoid a banning, thank you.
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images seem to be broken.